Bisquits:

I don't like fixed blade knives without a solid hilt at least on the sharpened edge. Even those "semi hilts" that are rounded out parts of the handle are not secure enough for me.

No matter how fine the work you are doing, one slip is liable to put your hand over the cutting edge a lot quicker on a knife with no hilt.

Remember you are talking about a knife that may be used in wet, bloody, muddy, or sweaty conditions, all of which help put Murphy's law in motion.

If a decent folder were made with a worthwhile folding hilt, I would probably buy it. As it is, the only folding hilt knives I know of (The hilt is not that strong on them.) are Italian and German switchblades which are not legal hereabouts for public possesion.

Bountyhunter

Biscuits,

The Bark Rivers are not hollow ground, they're convex ground- sort of the opposite. It's a little different, requires different sharpening techniqes (Fallkniven and Opinels are also convex), and has it's own virtues.

I bought and then traded off two Bark River knives, a mini-Canadian and a Highland, but I used them almost not at all, so there's a lot about them (edge holding, durablity, steel) that I can't comment on. The decision to trade them was based almost entirely on size (they're a LOT smaller than they look in photos), handle size and geometry.

On the other hand, I have a North Star on order... on the third hand, I'd guess there's a 30 percent chance I might trade that away too. There are things I like about them and things I don't- I was more enthusiastic in the early stages of design.

I used to feel very much that way, and still do, to some extent. Long ago I had a fairly bad accident with a Japanese aikuchi, which has no guard, when my hand slipped forward onto the (VERY sharp) edge.

However, over the years I've handled a number of knives that feel pretty safe to me in that regard even without having a "guard" per se. A lot of it has to do with the shape of the handle and ricasso area. The lack of a guard also helps with the draw (especially from a pouch sheath), and usually adds a bit of flexibility in using the knife. I'm a bit more open minded about the whole thing now.

The TAK is a good case in point- it has no explicit "gaurd", but the handle shape is very good, and I have no hesitation at all in using it. The lack of a guard allows one to more easily "choke up" on it...

But, like many things "knives", it's very much about personal preference.

RE: Becker Crewman.
I have one and use it a lot. Do a search of the archive and you will find my tiny review as well as much other info. I like everything about it, but the handle and sheath. Re-did both.

It is not a good knife for cutting carrots and such as the thickness sends the cut pieces into orbit. Splits them more than cuts them. However it does have its uses. It is quite heavy and this is a penalty that you should consider. I am from the "sharpened prybar" school of knives and the Crewman works for me. But your mileage may vary....

Hi Alejandro,
Yours is a very good question. I have the Cold Steel SRK (Survival Rescue Knife). It is a very good knife and the price is not bad even from Cold Steel. You can do a search and find it at even a better price, about $60 or so on some sites. For a second, about $50 with only cosmetic slight blemishes. You could do a LOT worse in a very tough knife.

So I'm gathering that a plan might be to have two knives:

(1) Robust fixed blade knife such as the Becker Crewman or others for chopping and heavy work

(2) and a smaller knife such as Doug's RSK or a Leatherman for slicing, whittling, and finner work.

It seems I wouldn't want to be without a second backup knife anyway.

In a word .... "Yep!" <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

A lot of people around here would agree with that philosophy. Even Doug, according to what I remember of his articles on this site, (it's been a while since I last read through them) has a scalpel blade in his smallest kit for a backup to his EDC which in itself includes both a large folder and multitool as well. That's three blades.

I personally don't go much for big knives. If I need more than a 5" blade then I must be in some serious #$%^ like waking up in a south american rain forest. <img src="/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" /> With a 5" blade I can split logs up to 4.5" diameter... maybe even 4.75" if I'm careful. My current outdoors EDC is a 4.5" fixed blade (BM10505DPT) although I just put an order in tonight for an upgrade (BM190DPH) to that knife which will actually be taking me down to 4.0" for my one and only outdoors EDC blade.